Re: Chess.com Isle Of Man Tournament 20 to 28 October 2018

“We have a very light flight today with hardly any luggage stored. Therefore, we will ask a few passengers to move to the back of the aircraft.”

This reminded me of a flight I got around 20 years ago from City Airport in London to Dundee where the pilot unexpectedly announced that due to turbulence and bad weather the plane was running out of fuel so we were going to land in Glasgow instead.

Re: Chess.com Isle Of Man Tournament 20 to 28 October 2018

the US government is still looking to get their hands on the former owner of Pokerstars.

To be clear, the reason for this is that Pokerstars allowed US citizens to play online poker, a right taken for granted in most countries. This was illegal because Las Vegas interests, which somehow have considerable clout in Washington, saw online gambling as a serious threat to their monopoly. Among American players, far more see the Scheinbergs as heroes than villains.

Re: Chess.com Isle Of Man Tournament 20 to 28 October 2018

To be clear, the reason for this is that Pokerstars allowed US citizens to play online poker, a right taken for granted in most countries.

Pokerstars and others tried to get round the ban on online poker for money by using various subterfuges involving credit card billing. Rather than tolerate this, it would appear the Washington lawmakers resorted to their laws on wire fraud etc.

If playing poker for unlimited stakes is immoral, and it might be, the starting point for the US would be closing down the Las Vegas and other casinos.

Re: Chess.com Isle Of Man Tournament 20 to 28 October 2018

To be clear, the reason for this is that Pokerstars allowed US citizens to play online poker, a right taken for granted in most countries.

Pokerstars and others tried to get round the ban on online poker for money by using various subterfuges involving credit card billing. Rather than tolerate this, it would appear the Washington lawmakers resorted to their laws on wire fraud etc.